From a photograph by Solomon D. Butcher of four daughters of rancher Joseph M. Chrisman, at their sod house in Custer County, Nebraska. From left to right, Harriet, Elizabeth, Lucie, and Ruth. Photographed in 1886.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Die-Hard Coffee Quaffer

Another Trip Down Memory Lane... Life in Germany... Life in Bolivia...

Every coffee drinker has a little story about when and why he/she started drinking coffee.

Here is my story. I attended a parochial boarding school during my high school years. The school had strict rules and policies that were heavily influenced by Mennonite thinking (at that time).

In such a restrictive place, small privileges were treats. Students were allowed to have a cup of coffee at breakfast -- so I had one. It wasn't very good-tasting coffee, but I drank it anyhow, and that is how I became a coffee drinker.

Except for two years in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, where I drank hot tea, I've been a coffee drinker ever since -- over forty years now.

I drank hot tea when we lived in Bolivia because I couldn't stand the coffee there. Believe it or not, everyone drank instant Nescafé, imported from Brazil. They took a cup of boiling water and thickened it with sugar and Nescafé to make a black syrup. Ugh. No matter how I mixed it, I didn't like it.

In Germany, I learned to drink coffee with cream in the hotel restaurant, while we were waiting to move into our first apartment. The coffee was too strong to drink black, but it was delicious with a slosh of rich, sweet cream from the pitcher that was delivered with the coffee.

To this day, I still make strong coffee and top it off with skim milk. (I can't drink all that cream without getting fat, and besides, I'm supposed to watch my cholesterol.) I've never liked sugar in either coffee or tea, not even iced tea, which makes me a bit of an oddity here in Kentucky.

I recently bought a new coffee pot. It's retro in appearance, and it makes a nice chugging sound while it perks. My brother commented that it sounds like an old-time John Deere tractor.

I also have a stove-top percolator , so I can make coffee in just about any circumstance. I've used it on the woodstove when we lost power during ice storms, and I use it on the camp stove when we go to the lake. I could even make coffee with a campfire if necessary.

7 comments:

I started drinking coffee when I was a graduate student in Seattle. It was a splurge (before Starbucks was everywhere) to get a mocha while studying or preparing tests for students.

I didn't become a regular coffee drinker until I was on Weight Watchers after my first child was born. I drank so much water, that I didn't want water when I first woke. I turned to coffee, with artificial sweetener and a small bit of flavored creamer. It is now more of a ritual than a necessity.

I just never have been able to "catch on" to coffee...not like my habit is any better: a cold can of soda in the morning....just seems the cold jolt does it more for me than a warm drink in the morning.....my only coffee-like concession: Gas station cappuccino...French vanilla, s'mores flavor, English toffee.....yum!

I like coffee so much that I try to keep a six month supply on hand. I don't know what you call it, but I make coffee by boiling water in a big pot, then trowing the ground beans right in. I quickly remove the pot from the stove, so the coffee itself doesn't actually boil. After a few minutes I throw a cup of cold water in the pot to make things settle.

It requires a steady pouring hand to avoid getting a cup of grounds. The coffee can stay on the warm stove all day; just add more water or coffee as needed. No sugar, no milk. I love it.

Sarabeth, I enjoy the flavor of powdered creamer for a change sometimes, though at home, I always use milk. Believe it or not, I have never been to Starbucks, though we do have one right in Hopkinsville.

PT, I am not surprised you are a serious coffee drinker. Your six-month supply is inspirational. I should check the emergency supplies I have stashed in the shed. I don't think there's any coffee or tea in it. That could be serious.

IT IS STILL BEST to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasure; and to be cheerful and have courage when things go wrong.(Laura Ingalls Wilder, 1867-1957)